1998 buick century custom - the electric rear window stopped working and dropped open and won't close. An examination of the window revealed that the harness is made up of two steel cables attached together by a small piece of plastic. Surprise, the plastic broke! In december 2003, the same year that the back window broke, the driver's side window broke and it is the exact same piece that broke in the back window. Only this time it broke while my daughter was in the center lane of I-75 and we're fortune that she wasn't in a serious accident. The falling of the window at high speed created a scary distraction that narrowly missed causing a potentional bad accident. It have been told to me by a body shop as well as a buick saleman that this is a common defect. It is not only dangerous but conveniently costly to repair. They don't make the plactic connector, which would be very easy to install, but only sell the entire harness for $375 + tax. I have writen and spoke with gm in detroit. They have offered me an additional $1500 towards a new car or they will pay 50% of repairing the window. This sounds to me like they are very well aware of the problem but it is going to take your organization to insist upon a total recall.
1998 Buick Century visibility complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 25 of 25, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Consumer states that while driving and no warning the windshield wiper will work intermittently and it will hard for the consumer to see during rainy weather. Dealer notified. Mr
In sudden downpour (approaching tornado) outside of nashville this a.m. Visibility was severly reduced with wipers on lower setting. When wipers turned to high to increase visibility wipers locked and stripped, forcing driver to pull off the interstate and wait for the rain to stop. This is the second time this has happened. The first incident was in march 2001 - right after purchasing the used vehicle. We encountered heavy rain at interstate speed of approximately 55 MPH. The wipers locked together and the mechanism stripped the right wiper so that it would no longer function. Upon resuming driving with just the left wiper, the left wiper then proceeded to go off the windshield entirely and driver had to pull off the on the side to tighten bolt. The primary driver of this vehicle remembered the first incident and never uses the higher wiper settings so has not incurred any further problems. The auxiliary driver, myself, had forgotten that this was a problem. Not being able to use the highest setting makes for dangerous visibility in heavy rain though and the design of the wiper operation should be investigated as even being able to safely pull off the interstate is severely hampered.
The vehicle drifted to the left, noises seemed to have been coming from the steering, the power steering locked up, the rack and pinion had gone out and leaked, the A/C control was inoperative, the seat belt button latch had fallen and the button was missing, the wheel alignment was out of specifics, the driver door was hard to open, the panel had moved when the window was rolled down, the power window(s) were inoperative, the shifter goes in and out, the right front door exterior trim was hard to open, the passengers seat coushin was too soft and had collapsed, and the door's mirror was loose. The service dealer had found no problems with the steering. Scc
Under certain conditions, condensation collects on the outside of the windows reducing visibility through these windows to near zero and making it impossible to see approaching traffic. The glazing materials around both windows (weatherstripping) do not make contact with the surface of the windows during raising or lowering. Therefore, the condensation cannot be removed from the exterior of the windows without exiting the car and manually cleaning the surface. For example, when the condensation collects while I am traveling on a highway, it is necessary for me to stop on the side of the road, get out of the car, and clean the surface of both windows in order to proceed safely. The dealer was first notified of this defect within 60 days of my purchase. At that time, I was advised by the dealer's repair shop that the windows were not aligned properly and that adjustments were made to correct the problem. The shop reported that the corrections were made to correct the defect, but the defectb was not corrected. I have taken the car to other dealers and returned to the original dealer on several occasions during the past two years in an attempt to have the defect corrected. Each time I have received a different response. In september 1999, I notified the manufacturer (buick division of gm) of this and other safety defects, but I did not receive a response. Late last month I returned again to brown's buick to seek repairs, and I have now been told that the windows are operating as designed. I believe that the failure of the window systems and related materials to clear the condensation that periodically collects on the exterior surface creates a safety hazard to me and to others on the road. Although the manufacturer and the dealer have had several opportunities to correct the defect, no correction has been made.
At 7:00 pm (dark and heavy rain), windshield wipers in motion and right wiper locked into left during heavy rain creating zero visibility.
Ppg, the manufacturer of the 1998 and 1999 buick century windshields is manufacturing the windshileds with a latent defect, which causes the windshield view to be hazy when driving directly into the sun. It appears that the laminate layering between the glass sheets has failed. I also noticed this same defect on a 1999 century as well. Dealer was notified and confirmed the defect but general motors customer zone rep was unwilling to proceed further. The defect will probably not cause any accidents, but may impair or distort a person's clarity of view, when driving into the sun.
When the wiindow is rolled down the inside of the door comes into the driver. When the window is rolled up, it will jerk /am and pull the door to its normal condition. The dealer has been notified.
Defroster control switch failed.
Driver experiencing glare in windshiled.
The windshield angle and design results in vision being obscured due to reflection.
On a sunny day the front windshield reflects the whole dashbroad which causes poor visibility. Also, the front and the back windshield cloud up very badly from bright light and going into a darker area. The dealer is not able to detect a problem with the windshield. Ak
Vehicle has poor visibility while driving. Owner cannot see over front hood while driving, possible design flaw.
Idle surge after releasing brake due to failure of the oxygen sensors.
In rainy weather conditions the windshield wipers became inoperable, cause unknown. In addition, while driving on highway vehicle went completely dead due to short in electrical system.
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